Artist Statement

Farewell in Labrador is a visual journey along the coast of Labrador, one of the most isolated places on earth. Situated on the east coast of Canada, the Flat Earth Society believes it to be one of the four corners of the world. A dwindling population of 12,000 inhabits 670 miles of coastline that is frozen solid for six months a year. "Life was hard when the waters around here was full of fish, now that all the fish has gone, life is almost impossible." The Cod Moratorium in 1992 pretty much killed the fishing industry, forcing many young people to leave and find jobs elsewhere. A government settlement program brought the Inuit and Innu nomadic cultures to the brink of extinction, and alcoholism is killing what remaining hope there is. The departure of NATO forces spelled the end of the Air Base and the town that built up around it. Instead of being the main subject, the Labrador coast provided a backdrop in which I explored and captured my own feelings for the landscape, its people and the memories they left behind. The connection between the images_ landscapes, portraits, interiors and still-lifes is emotional, eliciting feelings of isolation, longing and loss.

Our quoted dimensions are for the size of paper containing the images, not the printed image itself. We do not alter the aspect ratio, nor do we crop or resize the artists’ originals. All of our prints have a minimum border of .5 inches to allow for framing.

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Kurt Tong

Kurt
Tong
was
originally
trained
as
a
health
visitor
at
the
University
of
Liverpool.
He
has
worked
and
traveled
extensively
across
Europe,
the
Americas
and
Asia.
In
1999,
Kurt
co-founded
Prema
Vasam,
a
charitable
home
for
disabled
and
disadvantaged
children
in
Chennai,
South
India.
Kurt
became
a
full-time
photographer
in
2003.
He
was
the
winner
of
the
Luis
Valtueña
International
Humanitarian
Photography
Award
and
the
City
of
Port
St.
Elpidio
Prize
with
his
first
picture
story.
He
gained
a
Master's
in
documentary
photography
at
the
London
College
of
Communications
in
2006.
He
has
since
been
chosen
as
a
winner... Read More

in
the
first
Lens
Culture
-
Rhubarb
Photo
Book
Award,
the
Hey,
Hot
Shot!
competition
and
the
prestigious
Jerwood
Photography
Award.
Kurt's
photographs
have
been
widely
exhibited
around
the
world
at
numerous
venues:
Jen
Bekman
Gallery
in
New
York,
Impressions
Gallery
in
Bradford,
The
Royal
Academy
in
London,
La
Casa
Encendida
in
Madrid,
Abbaye
de
Neumunster
in
Luxembourg
and
the
CPA
Exhibition
in
Chengdu,
China.